Automobile hood support



Aug, 17, 11937. D. E. CRABB AUTOMOBILE HOOD SUPPORT Filed Sept. 1, 19343 Sheets-Sheet l Aug. 17, 1%37. E CRABB 2fi9fi73 AUTOMOBILE noonSUE'PORT Filed Sept. 1, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 117, 11937., D. E.CRABIB I AUTOMOBILE HOOD SUPPORT Filed Sept. 1, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented Aug. 17, 1937 PATENT OFFICE AUTOMOBILE HOOD SUPPORT Donald E.Crabb, Detroit, Mich., minor to The Atwood Vacuum Machine Company, acopartnershlp composed of Seth B. Atwood and James T. Atwood, Rockford,Ill.

Application September 1, 1934, Serial No. 242,267

23Claims.

This invention relates to supports for liftable hinged closuresgenerally, and, while herein disclosed as applied to an automobile fronthood, is applicable also to the lids for rear luggage com- I partments.

The large hoods required on the new streamlined automobiles havepresented a problem insofar as providing a safe support therefor isconcerned. The supports heretofore available are not dependable for suchlarge hoods especially since wind pressure alone is apt to causeaccidental dropping thereof. The principal object of my invention is toprovide a support for such hoods, applicable also to lids, in which thesup- 5 porting arm or prop cannot be released accidentally.

Another object of my invention is to provide a support in which aseparate manually operable latch is provided to lock the supporting armin operative position, so that the hood or lid cannot be lowered untilthe latch is moved to an out-of-the-way position.

Still another object is to provide a hood support in which provision ismade to catch the supporting arm at an intermediate point of its travelto the normal operative position so as to support the hood in a slightlyraised position and thus guard against dropping of the: hood if theoperator accidentally lets go of it, and also facilitate the raising ofa heavy hood by one unequal to the task of lifting it to its full heightin one movement.

The invention is also concerned with novel details of construction andarrangement as will presently appear from the following detaileddescription in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings,Wherein-- Figure 1 is a side view of the front portion of an automobileshowing the type of hood for which the present support was particularlydesigned, the hood being shown in raised position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through a portion of the hoodin closed position showing the right hand one of the two hood supportsin side elevation;

Fig. 3 is an enlargement of the cam plate showing the supporting arm inhood supporting position;

Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary views similar to Fig. 3 illustrating theoperation of the latch on the cam plate;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section on the line 6- of Fig. 5;

FlFlg. 7 is a vertical section on the line of Fig. 8 is a cross-sectionthrough the hood and adjacent front portion of the body taken on theline 8-8 of Fig. 2 and showing the right hand 5 support in frontelevation.

9 is a sectional detail on the line 99 of Fig.

Fig. 10 is a view of the free end of a supporting arm showing adiiferent shape of cam fol- 10 lower provided thereon;

Figs. 11 and 12 are elevational and sectional details of a cam plate inwhich the principal portion of the cam is made in a separate pieceapplied to the plate; Y 15 Fig. 13 is a view of another cam plateillustrating a further modification, and

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary view of a portion of a cam plate showing stillanother modification.

Similar reference numerals are applied to cor- 20 responding partsthroughout the views.

Referring to Figures 1-9, and at first mainly to Figure 1, the numerall5 designates a hood pivoted on a transverse axis, as at I6, between theside portions ll of the front of an auto- 5 mobile. The hood has ahandle l8 at its free end by means of which. it is arranged to. beraised and lowered, as well as locked, in its closed. position, thehandle being rotatable and connected with suitable locking means notshown. My in- .30 vention is concerned with hood supports indicatedgenerally by the numeral I9 for releasably but securely holding the hoodin' the elevated position illustrated in Figure 1. There are preferablytwo of these supports at the-right and 35 left hand sides of the hood;the right hand one is illustrated in Figs. 2-9. This hood support,briefly stated, comprises a supporting arm 20 pivotally mounted on abracket 2| suitably. secured to the bottom of the hood I5, arranged to40 cooperate with a cam plate 22 suitably secured to the adjacent sideportions ll of the car front, to hold the hood I5 propped in its raisedposition. Bolts 23 are shown for fastening the upper edge of the camplate to the body portion l1, and 45 other bolts 24 for fastening thelower portion to a brace 25 that is suitably secured at its other end tothe inside of the side portion ll of the car front. In this way, theplate 22 is held rigidly in a substantially vertical plane for propercoop- 50 eration with the supporting arm 20 and so as to properly assumethe weight ofi the hood IS in raised position.

The supporting arm 20 is formed from a piece of round rod bent at rightangles to provide a substantially horizontal pivot portion 28 extendingthrough holes in the downwardly bent ends 21 and 28 of the bracket 21for oscillation of the arm 28 in a longitudinal plane with respect tothe hood Ill. The end 28 has a vertical slot 29 provided therein whichallows the arm 28 to oscillate with respect to'the end 21 as a fulcrumin a transverse plane so as to have the laterally bent end 38 of the arm28 that serves as a follower for the cam surfaces on plate 22 be free tomove laterally to whatever extent is necessary in riding on these camsurfaces. In other words, any slight irregularity in the relationship ofthe bracket 2| to the plate 22 will be compensated for by the lateralplay of the arm 28. This feature avoids the necessity for carefullylocating the plate relative to the arm; the arm can be assembled on thehood independently of the plate, and vice versa, with every assurance ofthe arm and plate cooperating properly. A cross pin 3|. keeps the pivotend 28 of the arm 28 properly assembled in the bracket 2|. A coiledtorsion spring 32 coiled about the portion 28 has one end hooked ontothe arm 28, as at 33, and the other end 34 bearing against the bracketwhereby normally to urge the arm 28 in a counterclockwise direction, asviewed in Figures 1-5 and 9. This spring, by reason of the way the end34 engages the bracket 2i, as shown in Fig. 8, also urges the arm 28toward the plate 22 and, of course, the slot 28 permits such movement,as previously described. The follower bend 38 on the arm 28 is,therefore, always assured of proper engagement with the cam surfaces onplate 22; the arm 28 does not rely upon gravity to fall into its lookingor other positions, like so many other supports, and will, therefore,give the same performance regardless of the position of the car.

The cam plate 22 is shown in Figs. 2-8 as stamped from a singlepiece ofsheet metal bent longitudinally, as at 35 and 35', to offset the lowerportion laterally with respect to the plane of the upper portion, andhaving its lower edge bent outwardly to form a longitudinal ledge 36forming one portion of the cam track or surface. An upwardly projectinglug'31 at the front end of this ledge holds the arm 28'in its startingposition on the plate, as'shown. in Figs. 2 and 8. The upper portion ofthe plate is slotted to provide a substantially M-shaped cam slot 38starting at the line 35 and ending at the line 35. The lower portion ofthe plate is bent outwardly, as at 39, and forwardly, as at 48, belowthe beginning of the slot 38, whereby to provide a surface 38' forming acontinuation of the lower side of the slot 38 and reaching downwardlyalmost to the ledge 36, while also providing a switching surface 39overwhich the follower end 38 of the arm 28 may ride in returning to thestarting position, as indicated by the dotted line a in Fig. 6. A lug 4|bent downwardly from the line 35' adjacent the outlet end of the slot 38reaches almost to the ledge 36 and'keeps the follower end 38 of the arm28 from moving along the ledge 36 in any direction but toward thesurface 39. The knob 38 formed on the follower end 38, keeps the arm 28from moving laterally sidewise out of the slot 38. If desired, a roundknob 38a. can be provided on the arm instead of the flat knob 38', asshown in Fig. 10.

The depressed middle portion 42 of the slot 38 is the point wherethefollower end 38 of the arm 28 rests when the arm is supporting the hoodI5. The follower 38, in its travel to the point 42, moves along the.dotted line b, shown ing back along the line b;.'its only. possiblemove-,

ment would be in the opposite direction, toward the latch 43. This latchprevents the arm from moving in the direction to release the hood I! andallow it to drop to closed position. The latch is pivoted at 44 on arivet under which a corrugated spring washer 48 is compressed tofrictionally hold the latch in whatever position it happens to beoccupying. In Fig. 3, the latch is in closed position blocking theoutlet end of the slot 38 so that the follower end 38 of the arm 28cannot move out. The latch will retain this position until movedmanually to the open position shown in Fig. 4, the projection 48 on thelatch serving as a handle for operating the latch. The latch is of-bellcrank form and disposed in such relation to the outlet end of the slot38 that when it is moved to open position the one end moves'away fromtheslot but the other end is moved to a position across the slot,

as shown in Fig. 4 A projection 41 on plate 22 moved" long the line bofllg'. 3 to the depression 8 42 in the slot 38. I r

i In operation, it will be seen that when the hood I5 is raised by meansof its handle l8, the arm 28 under action of its spring 32 rides on theplate 22 so that the follower end 38 moves along the, line b of Fig. 3,arriving in the depression 42 when the hood has been raised as far as itcan go and then allowed to return slightly, just enough to let thefollower end 38 seat in the depression 42.

Once the arm 28 reaches the hood supporting position of Fig. 3, thelatch 43 keeps it there since the spring 32 will not allow the arm 28 tomove in any direction save toward the latch. In that way, there isabsolutely no danger ofthe hood being accidentally released and allowedto drop.

to closed position. The operator must first move the latch to the openedposition shown in Fig. 4 before he can lower the hood. It is obviousthat there is no need for morethan one of these latches onone of the twohood supports l9, 'al-,

though latches may be provided on both if desired. When the latch isopened, the operator can lower the hood by first raising the sameslightly suiliciently to-cause the follower end 38 to travel along theline 0, shown in Fig. 4, whereupon the hood can be lowered and thefollower end 38 travels first along the line d, Fig. 5, and then alongthe line a, Fig. 6, back to the startlngposition, Fig. 2. The action ofthe spring 32, which tends to urge the arm 28 not only in acounterclockwise direction but also toward the plate 22 as abovedescribed, always insures proper cooperation of the follower end 38 ofthe arm with the plate 22. There is suflicient play allowed for at slot23 to take care of any slight irregularity in the mounting of the plate22 with respect to the bracket 21 as well as allowing sufflcient lateralmovement of the arm 28 to ride overthe switching surface 33 in goingfrom the outlet end of the cam back to the inlet end, as shown in Fig.6. The pivot end Ii-of the arm 20 never reaches either end of the slot29 and hence the spring 32 is always active in urging the arm 20 towardengagement with the plate 22 to function in the manner above described.The cam plate 22 can be modified, as shown at 22 in Fig. 14, so that theM-shaped cam surface- 38 will provide one or more other depressions 42ain advance ofthe depression 42 which will afford a seat for the followerend 30 of the arm 20 when the hood I5 is raised only part way to theposition of Figure 1. In that way, 'if the operator should accidentallyrelease the handle I! before the arm 20 reaches the position of Fig. 3,the hood I5 will not slam down but will be intercepted in anintermediate position. A This feature would also be advantageous for onenot able'to raise the hood to its full elevation in one movement.

The cam plate might also be constructed as shown at 221) in Fig. 13 witha leaf spring 48 fastened intermediate its ends, as at 49, in the slot38a. With this construction, once the follower end passes the upper endof the spring 48, it cannot return except by movement along the lines 2c, d and a, of Figs. 4, 5 and 6, the movement along the line a beingmodified to the extent that the arm 20 will not be forced to moveoutwardly from the plate 22b, as in Fig. 6, but will move past the lowerend of the spring 48 by flexing it upwardly. 30 The advantages of thisconstruction are similar to those described in referring to Fig. 14.

The construction shown in Figs. 11. and 12 is a cam plate He in which aseparate cam piece 50 of sheet-metal is mounted on the main plate, as bybent over lugs 5|,to provide the cam surface 38b with depression 42therein. This construction, it

I is thought, might be preferred to the one-piece construction shown inFigs. 2-7 from the standpoint of economy.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding ofthe objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims havebeen drawn with a view to covering all legitimate modifications andadaptations.

I claim:

1. In a device of .the character described, comprising a supportingelement and a closure element hinged thereon and arranged to be-moved toa raised position, a stiff and substantially non- 50 resilientsupporting arm pivotally mounted on one of said elements, a cam mountedon the other element, the cam being so disposed with respect to thesupporting arm that the free end of said arm rides on the cam in theswinging movement 55 of said closure, the cam being substantially Mshaped, whereby to provide a central depression for engagement by theend of said armvin the raised position of the closure, the one side legof the M being the inlet side and the other side leg 60 the outlet sideof said cam, and said arm being.

engageable in said depression in moving from the inlet leg toward theoutlet leg, and spring means tending normally to move the supporting armforcibly about its pivot in one direction in- 65 dependently of theaction of gravity so that the free end of said arm tends to move fromthe inlet leg toward the outlet leg of the cam regardless of theposition of the supporting element and closure element, said cam beingformed with a 70 portion whereon the arm is arranged to ride from 'theoutlet leg toward the inlet leg.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1, including means on the cam forreleasably locking the supporting arm in engagement with the depressed75 portion of said cam.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1, including means on the inlet leg ofthe M-shaped cam for limiting retrograde movement of said supportingarm.

4. In a device of the character described, comprising a supportingelement and a closure element hinged thereon and arranged to be moved toa raised position, a stifl and substantially nonresilient supporting armpivotally mounted on one of said elements, a'keeper mounted on the otherof said elements, and spring means normally urging the arm to swing inone direction with respect to the keeper independently of gravity, thekeeper having a recess arranged to receive the end of said arm when theclosure is raised, whereby to support said closure in raised position,and said keeper having surfaces whereon said arm is guided toward andaway from the recess in the raising and lowering of said closure, thespring means serving to keep said arm constantly under tension towardengagement with said surfaces regardless of the position of thesupporting element and closure element. Y 1

5. A device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said arm is, formed with alaterally projecting and enlarged end portion to engage in a slotprovided on said keeper, and wherein said arm is pivotally mounted so asto be swingable laterally transw versely with respect to the plane ofits other pivotal movement, whereby to maintain substantially the sameoperative relationship of said end portion to said keeper when thesupport and closure are shifted laterally with respect to one another,the spring means being so disposed relative to the supporting armwhereby to urge the arm laterally toward the keeper in addition tourging said arm normally to swing in onedirection relative to the keeperin the other plane of its movement.

6. A device as set forth in claim 4 wherein said keeper has at least oneother depression provided therein in advance of the main recess ar-'ranged to be engaged by the supporting arm to support the closure in apartially raised position.

7. A device as set forth in claim 4 including manually releasable latchmeans for retaining the supporting arm in engagement with the recess inthe keeper whereby to prevent accidental lowering of the closure.

8. A device as set forth in claim 4 including manually releasable latchmeans for retaining the supporting arm in engagement with the recess inthe keeper whereby to prevent accidental lowering of the closure, saidlatch means comprising a bell-crank latch-normally in a closed positionrelative to the recess but arranged to be swung to an inoperativeposition wherein one arm opens the recess, the other arm of said latchbeing moved in such operation into a position so that it isautomatically returned to the initial position in the movement of thesupporting arm away from the recess.

91 In a device of the character described, comprising a supportingelement and a closure element hinged thereon and arranged to be moved toa raised position, a cam plate fastened on the support in spacedrelation to the pivoting axis of the closure and disposed in asubstantially vertical plane alongside the closure, a supporting armpivotally mounted on and depending from the closure in slightly lessspaced relation to the pivoting axis thereof, the free end of said armbeing formed to provide a cam follower arranged to ride on cam surfacesprovided on said plate,

said'plate having a ledge whereon said am is arranged to rest in thelowered position of the closure, the cam surfaces of said plateextending in ,one continuous line starting and terminating 5 at spacedpoints on said ledge so that the follower end is guided onto the camsurfaces from the ledge and off of the cam surfaces onto said ledge,said arm beingswingable normally in one direction tgward said ledge, andmeans on said plate for switching the follower end of said arm on saidledge from the return side to the forward side of the cam surfaces.

10. A device as set forth in claim 9 including spring means for normallyurging the arm to l5 swing toward the ledge.

11. A device as set forth in claim 9 wherein the arm is mounted looselyon the closure so as to be swingable laterally with respect to the planeof its normal pivotal movement, for the purpose described.

12. In a hinged closure support, comprising a supporting'frame elementand a closure element hinged thereon, a supporting arm pivoted at oneend on one of said elements near the hinge axis,

and a cooperating bracket mounted rigidly on the other element also nearthe hinge axis and in a vertical plane substantially parallel with theplane of said arm, said bracket having a one-way cam track thereonrising from a starting point to a high point, then descendinginto arecess, then rising again, and then descending again toward the startingpoint, a follower on the free end of said arm arranged to ride on saidtrack into said recess, whereby to support the closure in a raisedposition, switching means between the starting rise and the finishingdescent for causing said follower to ride onto the rise and travel thesame route toward said recess upon each operation, and spring meansnormally urging the arm laterally toward, the bracket to insure propertracking of the follower and tending normally to swing the arm in onedirection in the plane of its normal operation.

13. A support as set forth in claim 12 including means for releasablyretaining the follower in the recess.

14. A support as set forth in claim 12 including means for preventingbackward movement of said follower in traveling up the first rise ofsaid track. v

15. A hinged cover support comprising a rod pivoted at one end andhaving a lateral projection on its free end, a plate having an M-shapedslot provided therein to slidably receive said 5 projection, and alaterally inclined surface beneath the slot extending from a point inthe operating plane of the plate intermediate the lower ends of the legsof the slot forwardly and laterally arranged to cam the projection awayfrom the plate, and spring means cooperating with the rod to urge thesame laterally toward the plate and rearwardly relative thereto. 1 16.In a hinged cover support, a sheet metal plate formed to provide avertical top portion 'having an M-shaped slot formed therein, and ahorizontal bottom portion providing a ledge below and spaced from theoutlet end of the slot but directly beneath the inlet end thereof, theplate being formed to provide a laterally and for- 7 wardly projectingportion above-the ledge and bea hind the inlet end of the slot.

1'7. A hinged cover support of the class described comprising a rodhaving one end thereof bent substantially at right angles to provide a7'5 pivot portion and having the other end thereof bent to provide alateral projection, a supporting bracket having laterally spacedperforated portions receiving the first mentioned end of said rod, saidrod being pivotally received in one'oi' said portions and pivotally andslidably received in the other of said portions whereby to permitswinging movement of the rod relative to the bracket in an operatingplane, and movement laterally from said plane, a vertically disposedplate having an M-shaped slot arranged to receive the lateral projectionon the free endof said rod, said plate being disposed on the oppositeside of the rod from the aforesaid bracket and substantially parallel tothe operating plane of said rod, and a single coiled torsion springmounted on the first mentioned end of said rod between the spacedsupporting portions of the bracket and having one end abutting thebracket and the other end abutting the rod so as to urge the rod toswing normally in one direction in its operating plane and also to movelaterally toward said plate.

18. A device as set forth in claim 17, including a manually operablekeeper plate pivoted on the aforesaid plate adjacent the outlet end ofthe M- shaped slot, the keeper plate having one portion disposed behindthe crotch portion of the slot in the locking position ofsaid plate andhaving another portion swingable to a position across the outlet end ofthe slot when the first portion is moved to an inoperative positionrelative to the slot, whereby the keeper plate is arranged to be movedto a released position manually and is arranged to be set automaticallyby the engagement of the lateral projection on the rod with the lastnamed portion of the keeper plate upon disengagement of said projectionfrom the slot, substantially as described.

19. In a hinged closure support, comprising a supporting element and aclosure element hinged thereon and arranged to be moved to a raisedposition, a supporting. arm pivoted at one end on one of said elementsat a point spaced from the hinge axis, a cooperating bracket mountedrigidly on the other element at another point similarly spaced from thehinge axis and in a vertical plane substantially parallel with the planeof said arm; and having cam surfaces provided thereon arrangedto beengaged by the free end of said arm to guide the same into and out of arecess provided on said bracket, whereby to support the closure in araised position, and spring means tending normally to swing the arm inone direction in the plane of its normal operation relative to thebracket, said spring means being so disposed with respect to said armwhereby it also ,has a component in the direction of said brackettending normally to urge the arm laterally toward the bracket to insureinterengagement of the free end of said arm with the cam surfaces onsaid bracket.

20. A hinged cover support, comprising a rod pivoted at one end andhaving a lateral projection on its. free end, and a plate having an M-shaped slot provided therein to slidably receive said projection and alaterally inclined surface beneath the slot extending from a point inthe operating plane of the plate intermediate thelower ends of the legsof the slot forwardly and laterally arranged to cam the projection awayfrom the plate, said rod being arranged to yield sufficiently to-permitthe projection thereon to move outwardly relative to said plate.

21. A bracing'device for hinged covers and the like, comprising a memberhaving a guide channel therein shaped to provide an ingress portion, anescapement portion and an intermediate communicating' latching portion,a universally pivoted stay including a prop and pivot arm mounted 5 forvertical and lateral swinging movement and having a coupling head at itsfree end engageable with said channel, said head engaging the ingressportion of the channel during the opening of the cover and the latchingportion thereof in the open position of the cover, and a spring appliedto the pivot arm of said stay and having portions acting on the prop andpivot arm of the stay, respectively, for urging said stay to swingvertically in a direction toward said channel member and in a lateraldirection from the ingress to the escapement portion of the channel. 22.A bracing device for hinged covers and the like, comprising a memberhaving a guide channel therein shaped to provide an ingress portion, anescapement portion and an intermediate communicating latching portion, abracket, a pivoted stay mounted on said bracket to swing vertically andhaving a connection therewith to permit a lateral swinging thereof, saidstay having'a conpling head at its free end engageable with the ingressand escapement portions of said channel during the movement of the coverto its open and closed positions, respectively, and engageable with thelatching portion of the channel in the open position of the cover, andmeans applied to the stay for yieldingly urging said stay in a directiontoward the face of the channeled member and in a lateral direction intraversing from the ingress to the escapement portion of said channel,said means including a spring coiled about the pivoted end of the stayand having one end thereof en- 5 having an elongated opening therein, apivoted 15 stay mounted on said bracket to swing vertically and having apivot-arm at one end engaging said bracket openings whereby said stay isfree to rock laterally, said stay having a coupling head at its free endengageable with the ingress and es- 20 capement portions of said channelduring the movement of the cover to its open and closed positions,respectively, and engageable with the latching portion of the channel inthe open position of the cover, and a spring applied to said 25 stay forconstantly urging it to swing vertically toward the channeled member andto rock laterally of said member in a direction from the ingress to theescapement portion of said channel.

I normm E. CRABB.

